啓蒙主義を代表する人物で、文学や哲学に留まらず、今日のフランスの政治や価値観にまで影響力を遺すヴォルテール（1694-1778年）。その合理的で筋の通った主張は、当時の社会に対応したものでした。本書では、その思想がいかにヨーロッパ啓蒙主義の理解に欠かせないものであるかを現代的な視点で明らかにします。その「パフォーマンス」が極めて現代的であり、今日に通じるものである点にも注目します。(cf. Letters Concerning the English Nation (Oxford World's Classics); Candide and Other Stories (Oxford World's Classics) ほか）
 

• Explores Voltaire's life, career, and most important works
• Looks at the factors that influenced his work, how theatre played a part in understanding his work as a writer, and his impact as an empirical philosopher
• Shows how he established his authority as a writer by progressively redefining and refining his role with his reading public
• Explores his status as a literary celebrity
• Examines his impact on French political values and modern French politics

 
Voltaire (1694-1778), best remembered as the author of Candide, is one of the central actors — arguably the defining personality — of the European Enlightenment. In this Very Short Introduction, Nicholas Cronk explores Voltaire's remarkable career and demonstrates how his thinking is pivotal to our notion and understanding of the Enlightenment. 

In a fresh and modern examination of his writings, Cronk examines the nature of Voltaire's literary celebrity, demonstrating the extent to which his work was reactive and practical, and therefore made sense within the broader context of the debates to which he responded. The most famous living author in Europe in the 18th century, Cronk emphasises Voltaire's skills of 'performance' as a writer and his continued relevance today. He concludes by looking not only at Voltaire's impact in literature and philosophy, but also his influence on French political values and modern French politics.